Arsenal: Nothing about Hakim Ziyech has ever made sense
By Josh Sippie
Arsenal look set to miss out on Hakim Ziyech, though it might not be accurate to call it missing out since it never looked likely, and this all just makes no sense.
I don’t often lose my cool over acquisition transfer rumors. There aren’t any players out there worth going crazy about, especially when Arsenal are the other party involved. Not just because it’s never likely, but because it rarely happens. But Hakim Ziyech? I’m definitely about to lose my cool about Hakim Ziyech.
It’s reported that Chelsea and Hakim Ziyech have come to an agreement, and that the creative attacking, goal producing sensation would be coming to London, only the wrong part of London.
Here’s all the things we’ve known about Ziyech through the failed transfer escapade these past few years: He loves Arsenal and wants to play at the Emirates; he wants to be like Mesut Ozil, only he plays the game in a much better way than Ozil; he’s versatile enough to play the No. 10, or wide, or up top; he produces a hell of a lot of goals; Marc Overmars has a big say-so in where Ziyech goes; there was a relatively modest release clause; he’s only 26; he’s in the prime of his footballing days.
Do I need to go on? Did I need to start the list at all? No. I didn’t. Because literally everyone knew that bringing Hakim Ziyech in would be a smart decision except for the honchos here at Arsenal. They have never showed any interest in the guy.
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Any. Not even the oft-erroneous transfer rumors could connect any interest from this fine club to that fine player.
How often do we talk about finding a solution to the Mesut Ozil problem? The answer isn’t to find another Mesut Ozil, or to keep trying with Mesut Ozil. The solution is to find someone who plays a more modern version of what Ozil has been trying to make work at the Emirates.
That is Hakim Ziyech. He is what Emile Smith Rowe hopes to grow into. But with no growing required. He is one of the highest goal producers in all of Europe.
Oh, and did I mention he loved Arsenal? Why is it that any time a player loves this club, they seem ineligible to actually join? This isn’t the first time it’s happened and it’s a head scratcher. Wouldn’t we want players that want to be here?
Ziyech was a modestly priced answer to everything, and unless the Gunners pull some kind of last minute intervention, we are going to miss out on him to a club we need to be competing with. Shame!
I could lose my cool more. Maybe I should. But I’m going to choose not too. Viva Emile Smith Rowe.